Garment bag



J. MOFFETT GARMENT BAG Feb. 26, 1957 Filed April 23, 1955 I II ll INVENTOR. James fiiof/e/ Unite States ticularly to do with that type of bag which is used for protecting garments, such as suits, coats, dresses, and so forth, which are delivered from a merchandising center to the consumer. The bag is also used by drycleaning establishments to wrap articles for purposes of delivery.

The garment bag contemplated by the present invention is especially designed for cooperation with garments, such as suits, coats, dresses, pants, and also for other items which may besuspended on a coat hanger, such as curtains, drapes, and the like.

Garment bags in use today for this temporary protection function practically all have an opening at the bottom and a tapered top with a central apex opening for the passage of the suspension portion of the coat hanger. These bags are applied in a rather laborious manner by slipping the bag over a long suspension hook upwardly to the point that the hook may receive a garment hanger and'garment, after which the bag is slipped down over the hanger and the garment.

It will be appreciated that if thousands of garments or other coat-hanger suspended items are to be covered in 'a day in some large department store the normal operation using the open-bottom bag consumes a great amount of time and requires a considerable staff of persons simply to accomplish this purpose. Inasmuch as the recent trend has been away from boxing these items for delivery and toward the use of bags, this problem is even more aggravated.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new type of garment bag which is especially adapted for cooperation and combination with a coat hanger. The invention is simple, and it is a significant fact that it has eluded the ordinary mind devoted to these problems for so many years.

Briefly, the invention consists of a garment bag which is closed at the bottom and on all sides, except one-half of the top and a contiguous portion of one side edge adjacent the top. Portions of the margin of these open edges are coated with a pressure sensitive or cohesive substance which is relatively non-tacky. The bag may be applied to the garment as it hangs on an ordinary hook or rack by simply opening the unjoined edges and slipping the bag up from the bottom of the suspended article over the coat hanger. The unjoined edges may then be joined around the garment, and the pressure sensitive or cohesive material on these edges will seal the bag closely around the hanger. Various methods of utilizing this invention will be apparent, and the manner in which the bag is cut may vary substantially.

A drawing accompanies the description, and the various views thereof may be briefly described as follows:

Figure 1, a perspective view showing a rack and the manner in which the bag is applied.

Figure 2, a view of the bag ready for use.

Figure 3, a view of the bag as applied showing in dotted lines the manner in which it moves over a suspended garment.

Figure 4, one modification of a blank which may be used to make the bag.

Figure 5, a second modification of a blank for the bag.

7 2,782,908 Patented Feb. 26, 1957 Referring to the drawings, in Figure 2 a completed bag is shown formed from a blank as shown in Figure 4. Th is blank has a central portion 20 with two side flaps 22 and 24. At the bottom of the center panel a small flap 26 is provided, and at the top of the center panel on one side of an apex portion 28 is a flap 3%. When this bag is folded together, sides 22 and 24 overlap and aresealed at 32. Flap'26 is folded over these sides and sealed. Flap 30 is folded down to seal one-half of the apex portion 28.

A slit34 separates a portion of panel 22 from the center panel 20; and when the bag is formed, this leaves a flap 36 adjacent the opening 46. Thisopening extends along one side 42 of the apexportion 28 and downwardly at 44 along one side-edge of the bag. The margins adjacent these edges 42 'ai1d 44 are coated with an adhesive material to a width of one-half to three-fourths of an inch from the edge. Similarly, the edges 46 and tion because it will'not catch or stick to the garments or fabrics beingiwrapped and it will not collect lint or dust. Other types 'of'pressure-sensitive adhesives may be used. The stacking of the bagswhile awaiting use will protect these edges sothat theywill not dry out andbecorne ineffective. The latex above referred to has proved to be satisfactory over at least a six-month period. Other means, of course,'of'holding the flap 36 in aimanner to bed'escribed'later might be used, such as applying adhesive tape to the outside after the flap is closed.

The manner of using the bag and its cooperation and combination with a coat hanger isshown in Figure 1, wherein a rack 50 supports garments A, B and C suspended'on coat hangers 52, 54 and 56.

As shown at garment C, the bag is opened at the edge as indicated in Figure 2; and. the bottom of the garment is slipped into this opening, after which the bag is pulled upwardly and rotated so that the closed portion of the apex 28 at the flap 3% will overlie one shoulder of the garment and one side of the coat hanger 56. The bag is thus in a stable position relative to the garment.

The operator can then seal the edges 4-4, 46 and 42, 43 so that the completed package is as illustrated with re spect to garment B in Figure 1. It will be seen that the garment can be sealed right up to and around the hook portion of the coat hanger so that the bag is practically closed in all respects when completed.

Figure 3 shows a bag completely sealed and in dotted lines shows the manner in which the bag is rotated over the garment in the final stages of movement.

It will be seen from the above that the bag can be readily assembled over any type of suspended garment or other fabric material which can be held on a coat hanger. The entire article, including the hanger, can be enveloped Without removing it from the normal suspension hook on which it would be held prior to delivery. The arrangement is such that if desired one person can slip the bags on a group of garments while another can come along and seal the open edge in whichever manner is selected. With the cohesive surfaces at the edges of the open portion of the bag, it is possible in a matter of one or two seconds to seal the bag ready for transfer.

In Figure 5 a modified blank is shown wherein the two sides and "62 of the bag are formed of one piece which greases 3 may be folded on the line D-D and sealed with suitable adhesive on all edges except 64 and 66, which are the edges of the flap portion 68. The bag then would be used in the same manner as above defined.

In shipment the bags would be preferably stacked with the flap portion 36 of Figure 2 or 68 of Figure folded back as shown in Figure 2 so that the bag would be readily available for use when needed.

I claim:

1. A garment bag for use in enveloping garments and like articles held on a coat hanger, which comprises a double-walled, substantially rectangular enclosure having one end apexed to the contourof a coat hanger, the edges of said enclosure being closed along the bottom, one side, and one-half of the apex end, the other side being closed from the bottom to a point adjacent the middle, the remaining edges of the enclosure being treated for cohersion when pressed together.

2. A garment bag and coat hanger in combination as defined in claim 1 in which the means at the margins of the open edges comprises relatively dry, non-tacky, cohesive strips of material carried on the facing margins of said open edges.

3. A garment bag and coat hanger in combination in which the hanger is standard in having sloping shoulder arms and a central suspension hook, and in which the bag is formed of matching panels apexed at one end to conform substantially to the sloping arms of the hanger, the edges of the panels being closed along one side and one leg of the apexed end and along the lower portion of the other side, and being temporarily open to receive said hanger and an article suspended thereon along the other leg of the apexed end and the upper portion of the side adjacent thereto, and means at the margins of said open edges to close said edges over the hanger and an article suspended thereon to lock the bag on said hanger.

4. A garment bag and coat hanger in combination as defined in claim 3 in which the means at the margins of the open edges comprises relatively dry, non-tacky, cohesive strips of material carried on the facing margins of said open edges.

5. A combination as defined in claim 4 in which the cohesive strips of material extend fully to the apex of the top end of the bag wherein the portion of the open edges adjacent the apex may be sealed around the suspension portion of the hanger.

6. A garment bag for use in enveloping garments and like articles held on a coat hanger which comprises a central panel substantially recangular in shape but apexed at one end to form the top edge, side panels integrally joined with and folded over said main panel having angled portrons merging with the lower ends of the apex portion of the main panel and shaped to conform with said apexed end, a slit downwardly along one juncture between the main panel and one side panel to approximately the middle thereof, a flap formed at the bottom of said main panel to lock said side panels when folded, and a flap on one edge of said apexed end to lock the top of said side panel adjacent that edge, and means along the other edge of sand apexed end at the margin and along the top margin of the other side panel and on either side of said slit to join said edges when pressed together.

7. A garment bag for use in enveloping garments and like articles on a coat hanger which comprises an enclosure formed from a sheet of material substantially rectangular in shape having each end apexed at the same angle, said sheet being folded at a transverse centerline to form two like panels, and means along the entire edge of said sheet on one side of a line bisecting the sheet through the apices to seal these edges on said one side, and means on the edges of said sheet on the other side of said bisecting line to seal said sheet into a closed bag after the bag has been suspended around an article held on a suspended coat hanger.

8. The method of enclosing an article suspended on a suspended coat hanger which comprises providing a double-walled enclosure having an apexed top with one side of said top closed and one side open, drawing said enclosure upwardly over said suspended article and said hanger while said article feeds into said open side of the top, suspending said enclosure on said hanger by the closed side of said top, and sealing the open side of said top while the enclosure is so suspended.

9. A garment-holding bag comprising a sheet folded along vertical lines to form registering front and rear portions, said portions being secured to each other at the folds and the front portion being completed by an adhesive seam between folded portions and joined to the rear portion along the bottom edge for the full width thereof and permanently closed at the top for one-half the width from one folded edge to the center, the registering portion of the other half being free for separation at the top and downwardly throughout a portion of the side whereby said open bag may be drawn over a garment while supported on a hanger, the closed half of the top resting on the corresponding half of the gar ment and the other half of the garment being enclosed by sealing the open edges of the other half of the bag.

10. A garment bag for use in enveloping garments and like articles held on a suspended coat hanger, which comprises a double-walled, substantially rectangular enclosure of garment size, having one end apexed generally to the contour of a coat hanger, the edges of said enclosure being permanently closed along the bottom, one vertical side and one-half of the apex end, the other half of the apex end and the other side of the enclosure being open to permit the open bag to be drawn over a garment while supported on a hanger until the closed half of the apex top is resting on the corresponding half of said garment, and means on the edges of the open half of the apex end and the edges of the open portion of the other side to join said edges when manually closed subsequent to application of the enclosure to a suspended garment or like article.

11. A garment bag for use in enveloping garments and like articles held on a suspended coat hanger, said bag comprising, a double walled enclosure of garment size, said enclosure having one end apexed generally to the contour of a coat hanger, the edge portions of said enclosure being permanently closed along one vertical side and one-half of the apex end, other edge portions of said enclosure including the other half of the apex end being open, so that the open bag can be drawn upwardly over a garment supported on a hanger until the closed half of the apex end is resting on the corresponding half of the garment, and means at said other edge portions manually operable to join the same for closing said bag after application thereof to a suspended garment or the like.

12. A garment holding bag comprising a sheet folded along an intermediate vertical line to form registering front and rear portions, said portions being secured to each other and permanently closed along the bottom edge for the full width thereof and permanently closed at the top for one-half the width from the folded edge to the center, the registering portions of the other half being free for separation, whereby said open bag may be drawn over a garment while supported on a hanger, the closed end of the top resting on the corresponding half of the garment, and means for securing to each other at their outer edges the free portions of the bag to complete the enclosure of the garment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 23,995 Rubin May 3, 1955 631,472 Birnie et al Aug. 27, 1901 952,181 Bornot Mar. 15, 1910 7 ,547 Nichols Jan. 20, 1942 2,368,645 De Sylva Feb. 6, 1945 2,635,740 Rubin Apr. 21, 1953 

